All posts containing the tag: "John TRavolta"
Posted Nov 5th 2009 3:45PM by TMZ Staff
The John Travolta jury had the votes to convict both Pleasant Bridgewater and Tarino Lightbourne of extortion, according to a newspaper report out of the Bahamas.
The vote was 6 - 3 in favor of conviction, according to The Punch newspaper. In the Bahamas it only takes 6 votes to convict.
The judge declared a mistrial because of jury misconduct. No announcement has been made if there will be a retrial.
Michael Ossi -- Travolta's lawyer -- tells TMZ, "John was very disappointed because he wanted closure."
Ossi says Travolta will "fully cooperate" with prosecutors in the future and wants another trial, whether it's in the Bahamas or the U.S.
Ossi says there has been no discussion about a plea bargain.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: john travolta, JohnTravolta, michael ossi, MichaelOssi, pleasantbridgewater, tarino lightbourne, tarinolightbourne
Posted Oct 29th 2009 2:30PM by TMZ Staff
The lawmaker who ruined the John Travolta extortion trial is as lucky as he is dumb -- a judge decided today not to punish him for his monumental mistake.
Senior Justice Anita Allen told Picewell Forbes -- who announced defendant Pleasant Bridgewater was innocent before the jury had come to a decision -- he had been "rightly ridiculed locally and internationally ... It is my opinion that you have suffered enough."
Forbes avoided being charged with contempt of court -- which could have landed him a fine or jail time -- by claiming he was only repeating a rumor he had heard about the verdict.
In case you forgot what it sounds like when an extortion trial gets flushed down the toilet ... here's audio and video of Picewell screaming "Pleasant Bridgewater is a free woman" over and over.
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: extortion, john travolta, JohnTravolta, lawmaker, picewell forbes, PicewellForbes
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 4:07PM by TMZ Staff
The Bahamian buffoon who blew the whole John Travolta extortion trial is about to have his own day in court ... because the judge in the case wants him to explain himself in person.
Lawmaker Picewell Forbes has been summoned to appear before the judge, so he can explain why he blurted out that one of the extortion defendants was found not guilty ... before the jury had even made their decision.
Forbes' colossal screw-up was made at a convention for the Progressive Liberal Party last night -- in front of hundreds of people and multiple recording devices.
Forbes' attorney said the lawmaker was just repeating a rumor he hadn't actually verified himself -- which somehow makes him look even dumber than before.
The PLP has since apologized ... guess that didn't cut it.
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: john travolta, JohnTravolta, judge, mistrial, picewell forbes, PicewellForbes, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, progressive liberal party, ProgressiveLiberalParty, tarine lightbourne, TarineLightbourne
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:27PM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has obtained audio of the moment when Bahamian lawmaker Picewell Forbes blew the entire John Travolta extortion case -- screaming out at a political convention last night that "Pleasant Bridgewater is a free woman!!!"
Big mistake: Because when the judge found out the announcement had been made before the jury had come to a decision in the Travolta case -- the judge declared it a mistrial, believing someone in the jury could have been "communicating" with the lawmaker.
FYI -- Pleasant Bridgewater is a former Senator from the Progressive Liberal Party -- and the announcement was made at a PLP convention.
The PLP released the following apology for their monumental blunder:
"Last evening in the course of an address at our National General Convention, it was announced that former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater had been acquitted. The announcement was incorrect. We give an unqualified apology. This was not intended to interfere with the administration of justice."
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta, Exclusives
Tags: extortion, extortion plot, ExtortionPlot, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:25AM by TMZ Staff
The judge in the John Travolta extortion case has declared a mistrial, reportedly because of jury misconduct.
Justice Anita Allen released the jury and declared a mistrial after learning that a member of Parliament announced at a political convention that defendant Pleasant Bridgewater -- a former Senator -- had been acquitted by the jury.
It's unclear if jurors had actually reached a verdict. There's an unconfirmed report that one of the jurors may have communicated information to the Parliament member who spoke out.
No word on whether the jury may have reached a verdict on Tarino Lightbourne.
Story developing ...
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: extortion, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, judge, mistrial, parliament, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, Tarino Lightbourn, TarinoLightbourn
Posted Oct 14th 2009 3:00PM by TMZ Staff
The paramedic/defendant who allegedly hatched the extortion plot against John Travolta just told the jury the whole thing was an evil plot to set him up ... and he just played along.
Tarino Lightbourne -- and defendant Pleasant Bridgewater -- opted not to take the witness stand today, instead standing in front of the jury with prepared statements.
Tarino said Travolta's lawyer, Michael McDermott, called him up randomly one day and offered $15 million for the "Refusal of Transport/Treatment" document -- which had John Travolta's signature on it.
Tarino said he had kept a copy of the document for his autograph collection -- but he never explained how McDermott found out he had it in order to make an offer.
Tarino said he thought McDermott was setting him up ... so he decided to play along. Tarino also said he didn't even know what extortion was ... and still doesn't.
Pleasant also claimed she was innocent -- but never really explained why.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: john travolta, JohnTravolta, michael mcdermott, MichaelMcdermott, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, suspect
Posted Oct 8th 2009 2:00PM by TMZ Staff
A Bahamas cop just testified defendant Pleasant Bridgewater admitted to giving key evidence in the case the dead goldfish treatment ... flushing it down a toilet at her home on the island.
Det. Sgt. Debra Thompson testified today about what went down on January 22 when they arrested Bridgewater -- who allegedly helped broker the extortion deal between paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and John's lawyer.
Thompson said the day of the arrest, they searched Bridgewater's office at her law firm ... with Bridgewater in tow.
At the office, Thompson said Bridgewater told them they weren't going to find what they were looking for -- a copy of the extortion document -- because she burned it with a candle and then flushed it down one of the toilets at her house.
Thompson said they then escorted Bridgewater to her home, where she actually showed them the candle in question -- so they took photos of it.
Thompson didn't say if they also took pics of the commode.
UPDATE: The prosecution is through calling witnesses -- they'll all be back in court on Tuesday. Stay tuned!
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: document, evidence, extortion, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater
Posted Oct 6th 2009 12:55PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just dropped a huge bombshell in open court -- dude just spit out a movie quote from "A Few Good Men."
It all went down after the people accused of extorting Travolta tried to turn the tables -- claiming Travolta's lawyer was the person who actually hatched the extortion plot.
But Travolta's lawyer, Michael McDermott, was furious -- and fired back, "You can't handle the truth! You can't handle the truth!"
The lawyer for the alleged extortionists replied, "You've watched 'A Few Good Men,' huh?"
The drama continues...
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: extortion, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tapes, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne
Posted Oct 5th 2009 3:15PM by TMZ Staff
Transcripts of taped conversations between alleged extortionist Pleasant Bridgewater and John Travolta's attorney, Michael McDermott, have just been released ... and it feels like Howie Mandell could step in at any time and say, "Deal, No Deal?"
The documents show Bridgewater -- attorney for defendant Tarino Lightbourne -- haggling with McDermott over how much the Travoltas should pay for the "Refusal of Treatment" document ... at one point, McDermott offers property instead of cash, complaining how hard it would be to raise $25 million in cash.
Bridgewater says Lightbourne believed the doc was worth hundreds of millions of dollars ... but was willing to accept $25 million. McDermott countered with an offer of only $250,000 ... saying the Travoltas could go as high as $1 million if Lightbourne would accept property.
At one point McDermott, recognizing the absurdity of the negotiations, says, "We can do a little rug merchant negotiations here." At another point he complains Tarino's demands of $25 million require Travolta to come up with "like a pickup truck full of money."
Click here to read the full transcript.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tapes, tarino lightbourn, TarinoLightbourn, transcripts
Posted Oct 5th 2009 11:25AM by TMZ Staff
One of the people accused of attempting to extort John Travolta apparently felt guilty while she was trying to execute the plan.
Audio and video tapes from the police sting operation which targeted Pleasant Bridgewater and Tarino Lightbourne are being played in open court today.
In the tapes, Travolta's attorney can be heard telling the suspects that John couldn't pay the $25 million asking price because "John doesn't have that kind of bread ... not even lying around."
On another tape, Bridgewater can be heard telling John's lawyer, "I just want to get this over with ... I don't want to hear about it again ... I feel so badly about the whole thing."
Travolta claims the suspects threatened to release a "refusal of treatment" document John signed after his son Jett was found unconscious in The Bahamas last year.
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: blackmail, extortion, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, plot, traino lightbourne, TrainoLightbourne
Posted Oct 5th 2009 7:55AM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta has not broken from Scientology, contrary to recent reports ... this according to sources connected to John.
Travolta testified in the Bahamian extortion case that his late son, Jett, was autistic. Until his testimony, Travolta never publicly acknowledged Jett's illness.
Travolta's silence on autism in years past was consistent with Scientology's unofficial position on the subject.
We're told some Scientology bigwigs are unhappy with John's recognition of Jett's condition, but Travolta remains "firmly committed" to the Church. In fact, we're told, he has used Scientology as "therapy" in trying to cope with Jett's death.
John, we're told, has never had his faith in Scientology shaken in the months following his son's death.
Filed under: John Travolta, Exclusives
Tags: autism, church of scientology, ChurchOfScientology, death, jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, psychological illness, PsychologicalIllness, scientology
Posted Oct 1st 2009 6:00PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just testified the alleged extortionists were willing to get paid in installments over four years.
Michael McDermott testified that after a number of phone calls, Pleasant Bridgewater dropped the asking price for the alleged extortion document from $25 million to $15 mil ... but the Travoltas ended up agreeing to $10 million. McDermott testified he would be paid $2.5 million a year for four years.
McDermott said this was all a setup, because he gave police permission to tap his cell phone and set up a sting operation at a hotel room.
McDermott said after he met with both Pleasant and Tarino Lightbourne at the bugged hotel room, he got an email from Pleasant saying, "Please see wire instructions as requested."
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: 10 million, 10Million, 15 million, 15Million, 25 million, 25Million, john travolta, JohnTravolta, money, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, wire
Posted Oct 1st 2009 12:01PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just testified the whole extortion plot was hatched because one of the defendants was starstruck.
Michael McDermott testified he got the call from Pleasant Bridgewater ten days after Jett died. He said Pleasant told him her client had a "Refusal of Transport/Treatment" document signed by Travolta and felt it was worth a lot of money.
Now get this: McDermott said Pleasant said her client, paramedic Tarino Lightbourne, had kept the document instead of turning it in ... because it was "signed by a celebrity."
McDermott said Tarino shopped the document -- which Tarino proved Travolta either intentionally killed his son or recognized he was negligent in the supervision of the child.
Tarino thought the doc was firm evidence Travolta wanted to flee the jurisdiction with his son's dead body.
McDermott said Pleasant told him ... "put it this way, the doc can be John's or the world's."
McDermott says Bridgewater acknowledged it was extortion, but Tarino didn't care.
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: document, jett, john travolta, JohnTravolta, lawyer, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, testify
Posted Sep 29th 2009 6:03PM by TMZ Staff
One of John Travolta's lawyers testified in the extortion trial today that one of the defendants claimed to have a document suggesting Travolta wanted his son, Jett, dead or was negligent in supervising his son.
Allyson Maynard-Gibson told the jury defendant Pleasant Bridgewater approached her and said she was representing Tarino Lightbourne, also a defendant. Gibson says attorney Bridgewater said she had warned Lightbourne that what he was doing was detrimental to the Bahamas, but Lightbourne still wanted to sell the document to Travolta, in return for it remaining private.
In reality, the document was irrelevant -- it merely released the medical professionals in the Bahamas from liability if Travolta decided to fly his son to Florida for medical help.
According to Gibson, Bridgewater told her Lightbourne said there was a big market for all things Travolta, claiming "Inside Edition," "Larry King Live" and Time Magazine wanted to know if he had photos or documents and what they were worth.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, larry king, LarryKing, negligence, pleasantbridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne
Posted Sep 29th 2009 12:05PM by TMZ Staff
Sort of a stunning development a few minutes ago in the John Travolta extortion trial.
One of the key players who was involved with the secret taping of conversations between Travolta's lawyers and Pleasant Bridgewater just told the court -- although he was in the room next door listening to the conversations, he never heard anyone demand money in return for keeping documents secret.
The testimony is in conflict with the actual tapes, so what Detective Inspector Sean Saunders said in court is a mystery.
The judge just cleared the courtroom.
UPDATE: They're on a lunch break now.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: bahamas, extortion, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, secret video, SecretVideo
